While the eyes of the world will be on Britain for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations next month, Pageantmaster Bruno Peek OBE will have his firmly fixed on Tonga. At 10pm local time on June 4, a fiery orange glow will light the skies over the remote South Pacific archipelago, marking the start of a chain of beacons that will be ignited around the globe in honour of Queen Elizabeth's reign. As the light fades in Tonga, another will appear in Australia, then China, Pakistan and Kenya - right across the world until it reaches Britain. And this, says Peek, is where the fun begins.

"I've been co-ordinating events like this for 30 years," he explains. "But this year's celebrations will be the biggest. At 10.30pm, Her Majesty will light the national beacon at Buckingham Palace, sending a burst of light out across crowds on The Mall."

More than 3,800 beacons will be lit across the Commonwealth and in overseas territories on the night of June 4. From Flash Primary School in Staffordshire, the highest school in Britain, Treetops National Park in Kenya, where the Queen learned of her father's death in 1952, and St Andrew's University, in honour of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, huge community bonfires and gas?fired flames will fill the world with light.

"For me, the beacon is a way of bringing together people from all walks of life," Peek, 60, explains. He has been in charge of beacon-lighting in the U.K. since 1981. Fed up with his job as a welder in Great Yarmouth, he approached the English Tourist Board with an idea for a chain of beacons to commemorate Britain's maritime history. "We met in London," he remembers. "I only had one, terrible suit and I arrived to see these posh chaps dressed up to the nines." But his idea went down well and he was charged with organizing a beacon display along the English coast. He followed this with a Millennium tribute and a beacon-lighting event to commemorate the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002. "That really was a sight," he chuckles. "We had a non-freeze gas beacon made for Antarctica, which was lit by scientists on Adelaide Island."

So how do you top a beacon-lighting ceremony in sub-zero temperatures? "By putting one on the four highest points in the U.K.," says Peek. Next month, beacons will be lit simultaneously at the top of Slieve Donard in Northern Ireland, Scafell Pike in England, Snowdon in Wales and Ben Nevis in Scotland, with each raising money for a different charity.

Beacons were first lit on church towers in Tudor times to warn of invasions. They have since been used to celebrate royal weddings and coronations. In 1897, towering 60ft bonfires were lit in honour of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.

Yesterday, the "Jubilee Crystal Diamond", made from crystal glass and presented in a 22-carat gold crown, was delivered to the Tower of London. It will be on display until it's taken to Buckingham Palace, where Her Majesty will use it to trigger a laser beam, setting the national beacon alight. The chain will continue on across the globe, coming to an end in Canada nearly eight hours later.

"For me, beacon-lighting is part of Britain's romantic history," says Peek. And what does the Queen think of it? "She's a good egg, Her Majesty. She's the mother of this nation and she's had a steady hand on the country for 60 years. If I were her, I'd have a lump in my throat."

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